Candace Parker addresses Carmelo Anthony taking sides in A’ja Wilson debate

Recently, Carmelo Anthony said that he would choose Candace Parker over A’ja Wilson in a debate about the best WNBA players on his 7 pm Brooklyn Podcast. Indeed, Parker is one of the greatest players of all time.

“I’m going to go with Candace,” Anthony said. “That was our era. So I was able to see Candace really dominate. This is no comparison, but I’ve seen Candace dominate as I’m going through my journey and my career. Also her skillset, A’ja’s skill set is totally different. A’ja is doing some s—t that may not be done again, but we’re going to keep it in context, probably Candace.”

That got Parker’s attention, and she spoke of it on her podcast Post Moves With Candace Parker. She said that progress is being made that women’s basketball players are being mentioned in debates about the best players.

“I love that women’s basketball is getting to the point that we’re debating this,” Parker said. “In barbershops, on podcasts, things like that. So first and foremost that’s the key.”

However, Parker tries to avoid those debates.

“I don’t get into one on one battles,” she said. “mean I think that’s kind of who cares. I feel like there’s a lot of players that can go out and get buckets on certain guys but they’re not going to be able to do what they did in their career. So I don’t know I mean I think our games are so different, A’ja and I in the way that you know we played and things like that. So who’s going to lace up their shoes and not think that they’re going to win.”

Wilson is coming off an MVP and championship-winning season with the Las Vegas Aces.

The WNBA is now part of the GOAT discussion.

In basketball spaces, fevered debates about who the greatest players are usually involve NBA players. Names such as Jordan, Magic, LeBron, Bird, Kobe, and Kareem are mentioned.

Now, the names of Parker and Wilson are uttered, and possibly Leslie, Miller, Woodard, Swoopes, among others, by true basketball aficionados.

Parker is a contemporary of Anthony’s. She came to prominence, as did Anthony, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade. For instance, all four competed at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.